The Fates' Betrayal

The sound of surrender

"You think?" Aisa said, exasperated.

"I don't know for sure. I didn't really need to know until now. Let's just try. Focus. Choose where you want to go. Once you've made your pick, concentrate on that place only. Command it to come forward, to show itself here."

Aisa did just as Jack advised. She browsed through all of Jack's images - places she didn't recognise, green fields and hidden forests, some abandoned houses, some roads running alongside rivers. They were mostly nature, places that hadn't been trespassed by others. Jack didn't show Aisa his childhood house or the areas he had spent his time growing up. Maybe it was for the best. They did need a secret sort of place, and he already had an impressive collection on display.

Choosing one shouldn't have been so difficult. Only none of them was calling to Aisa. Not in the way Jack explained. She felt no kind of emotions as she was examining them, and she was beginning to feel the pressure of Nicholas and Ajax as they were waiting for her to perform something that was beginning to seem impossible. The only emotions that were kindling inside were stress and anger as she was trying to select the best escape route. Aisa kept on looking for any little detail in Jack's collection that might trigger some kind of desire to be there. But there were none. Jack was uncovering place after place, digging deeper and deeper inside his own memories, urging Aisa to choose one and focus on it.

As she watched Jack relive his memories, she couldn't help but absorb them into her own mind. Each detail, each feeling that he unknowingly slipped out, she copied and made it hers. It was as though she was living his life vicariously through his memories. The influx of memories was overwhelming as they were swirling around her head like a tornado, causing her to feel dizzy, and she couldn't seem to keep up with the constant barrage of emotions. She was becoming annoyed and frustrated by the speed with which they circled her brain. 

Jack's soft and reassuring voice echoed in her mind, reminding Aisa to focus on her intention. With a renewed purpose, she shut her eyes to better concentrate and decide on one image. For a split second, fragments of a memory that seemed to draw her interest flashed before her. She felt a rush of energy course through her body. It was an indescribable sensation, both exhilarating and terrifying all at once. It was as if her mind was being pulled in a hundred different directions. But just as suddenly as it appeared, it was over. Aisa's mind raced to find it, discarding image after image, trying to retrieve the trail of emotion that left only crumbs.

"Where is that place?" She couldn't see it anymore. It was all spinning too fast. "How could I have lost it?" The disappointment was crushing her confidence, and the overwhelming stress was penetrating her concentration.

Aisa was feeling smaller and smaller as the tornado of images was growing, gyrating faster and faster, making her screech a deafening sound that was nestling inside her soul.

It was the sound of surrender.

She didn't want to open her eyes. Defeat was now thriving inside her. Why was she such a failure? Couldn't she do anything? Everyone was relying on her. She thought she was going to be their saviour, but she had failed. Why? Because she couldn't decide on a bloody place. All she had to do was pick one. Just one and look at it enough time till it would have made her want to be there. Simple, wasn't it? Only for Aisa, it seemed nothing was ever simple.

From the moment she opened her eyes and was met with Jack's mysterious life, everything began to complicate, and she felt like she was lost in a sea of confusion. She couldn't help but wonder what her life was like before when she knew who she was. Was it always this confusing? Was this indecisiveness present, or was it a result of her recent experiences? So much for believing she always knew what the correct choice was. She wasn't able to choose a destination. 

Aisa was scolding herself for her failure, embarrassed to open her eyes and meet the disappointed look of Nicholas and Ajax. Would they have to go back to the Pit? Would Lex discover their little escapade? Could they try again after a while? She reckoned not; Lex would arrive any time to take Jack away.

"Now what?" her voice was an ashamed whisper addressed only to Jack.

"Now we move!" The urgency of his tone wasn't lost on her.

"What?" Aisa opened her eyes, and there it was - a door stood in front of her, humming with otherworldly energy, drawing her inexorably close. Aisa could feel the pull of it, waiting for her to do the honours and push it open. She hadn't heard any of the men talking to her, not even Jack's voice trying to reach her. Her berating was louder than the cheerful voices, and none of them could cut through Aisa's own reprehension.

"You did it. Well done! Now let's get out of here." Jack's excitement was finally reaching her side. "Open it and walk through."

Aisa placed her hands on the door. It felt alive under her touch, and she could feel the power of it coursing through their veins, only she hesitated. She had no idea what the other side would show. She had no idea what image her mind selected from that tornado that brought forth this magical door. Aisa grabbed the edges of the portal, and with a mental nudge from Jack, she pushed it open. All she had to do now was take the first step. But there was no reaction. She felt a surge of panic rising within her, unsure of what to do next. A leap of faith? More like a plunge into the unknown abyss. More mystery.

Aisa stepped away from the entrance and gestured for Ajax and Nicholas to go first. It wasn't because she was a coward or because she feared the other side might hide something terrible. She somehow knew that all the places Jack had chosen for them were safe. They had to be, for his safety too. But there was something holding her back, making this delay a bittersweet moment before another terrifying chapter in her journey would begin. The unknown scared her. At least right now, Aisa knew where she was. But once she placed her foot in the doorway, what would the other side hold for her? More questions? Some half-answers? A better look into Jack's past? Perhaps a recovered memory from her own?

"Only one way to find out" Jack's stern voice shook away her fears. "We have to go. Nicholas and Ajax have already gone. We need to follow. There isn't any more time to linger around. Fear or no fear, we have to cut across it. Whichever place you have chosen, we'll manage from there. At least it will buy us a little more time. But right now, time isn't our friend unless you get us over onto the other side."

Jack was beginning to worry. He knew Lex would be coming back any second. He could feel it. Traces of magic charged the air with an energy that was familiar to him, and Jack knew the sparks of electricity didn't belong to the magic they had just performed.

Aisa nodded. Despite all the concerns and confusion that still wavered within her, she gathered all her fears and shoved them back inside, letting Jack's impatience be her guide, and moved towards the door.

Before being engulfed by the light, she glanced back, only to realise Jack had been right. The atmosphere seemed to crackle with an energy that was foreign to Aisa. She felt driven by her insatiable curiosity to investigate and unravel its enigmatic source. Before she had time to blink, a man with hair like gold, falling in perfect waves around his face, appeared not too far from her. His features were strikingly sharp and angular, accentuated by his piercing blue eyes that seemed to bore deep into one's soul. There was an air of danger that surrounded him, and a sense of familiarity surrounded her.

"That face..."

"Master", Jack hissed.

Perhaps that unknown feeling of familiarity came from Jack, although a thought kept tugging at the corners of her mind, trying to tell her a long-forgotten secret. A couple of moments after, Lex appeared behind Master. And that was all the incentive Aisa needed to run through the portal, sending prayers to whatever Gods were still alive or on their side, not to be followed.